Catherine Karr, PhD, MD, MS
About
Dr. Catherine Karr is an environmental epidemiologist and pediatric environmental medicine specialist. She has a primary appointment in the UW Department of Pediatrics, a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and an adjunct appointment in the Department of Epidemiology. Her research areas include environmental contaminants and pediatric respiratory health including asthma, health of farmworker children and global children's environmental health. Much of her research utilizes community-engaged research approaches. She shares leadership of a large pregnancy cohort as part of the NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes program. She is affiliated with the Pacific Northwest Center for Agricultural Safety and Health and the Interdisciplinary Center for Exposures, Disease, Genetics and the Environment. Dr. Karr has a general pediatric practice at the UW Pediatric Clinic at Roosevelt and also provides specialty pediatric environmental medicine consultation at this site and at Harborview Medical Center. As Director of the NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), she sets the direction for outreach and education as well as responding to queries from health care providers, government officials and families regarding health risks associated with environmental exposures.
Education
- PhD, University of Washington
- MD, University of Washington
- MS, University of Washington
- BS, University of Michigan
Affiliations
Mentorship
Available to mentor new Master's students in autumn 2026. Please follow the instructions on the How To Apply page.
DEOHS Students Mentored
Association Between Maternal Occupational Exposure to Cleaning Chemicals During Pregnancy and Childhood Wheeze and Asthma
Melissa Anne Herrin | MPH | 2023 | View
Wintertime and Wildfire Smoke pm2.5: Community-Engaged Research and Use of Low-Cost Sensors to Characterize PM2.5 and Mitigate Exposures
Orly Stampfer | PhD | 2023 | View
Phthalate exposure, respiratory outcomes and biomarkers of oxidative stress in children with asthma
Ryan Babadi | PhD | 2020 | View
"We are all here to learn": A qualitative study on perceptions of private well water testing within a rural Latinx community
Kori VanDerGeest | MPH | 2019 | View
Barriers to lead screening among pediatric providers in King County, WA
Alexandra Perkins | MPH | 2019 | View
Research
Interests: Pediatric environmental health. Air pollution. Asthma. Pesticides. Global children's environmental health. Farmworker health. Community-engaged research.
Projects
As part of a large NIH initiative on environmental influences of child health outcomes (ECHO), the ECHO Pathways study brings together nearly 3000 mother-child pairs in a prospective pregnancy cohort study. The study focuses on child airway health, neurodevelopment, air pollution, stress and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Home Air in Agriculture Pediatric Intervention Trial (HAPI)
This community-based participatory study tests the effectiveness of combining a community health worker asthma education program with portable home indoor air cleaners in order to improve indoor air and health of farmworker children with asthma.
Maternal Child Environmental Health Capacity Building in Kenya
Working with collaborators in UW Department of Global Health, this project engages child health and environmental health scientists in academia and government in Kenya to build research capacity regarding environmental toxicants such as air pollution and child neurodevelopmental health.
Next-Generation Sensors and Scientists to Reduce Wood Smoke in a Multicultural Rural Setting (NextGENSS)
This project builds new partnerships with the Yakama Nation and Confederated tribes and area high schools to focus on air pollution monitoring and capacity-building regarding wood smoke.
Publications
Selected publications
- Prenatal air pollution and childhood IQ: Preliminary evidence of effect modification by folate.
- Implications of Combined Exposure to Household Air Pollution and HIV on Neurocognition in Children.
- Ambient Ammonia Exposures in an Agricultural Community and Pediatric Asthma Morbidity.
- Improving human health outcomes with a low-cost intervention to reduce exposures from lead acid battery recycling: Dong Mai, Vietnam.
Engagement
Equity, diversity and inclusion
I am committed to fostering health equity and environmental justice in my research and service roles. Much of my research program employs community-engaged practice. My primary research partnerships are with organizations and institutions that serve communities with systemic social and economic inequities (Yakima Valley, Nairobi). I am continuing my personal journey to more effectively grow diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of my profession through trainings, ongoing conversations, self-study and reflection.
Community and research partnerships
The NW Pediatric Environmental Specialty Unit program that I direct continues to maintain and grow active, collaborative relationships to share expertise and perspectives on improving child environmental health with local and state public health departments and organizations in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho.
I am a member of the National Environmental Influences on Child Health (ECHO) consortium, which uses a collaborative, team science approach in conducting studies that will have impact on major public health concerns of children in the United States.
Teaching practices
My teaching practice currently focuses on outreach and education activities as part of the NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. In this role, I seek to increase the capacity of clinicians to address and improve environmental health conditions in children and pregnant individuals.
Service
DEOHS: I serve on the DEOHS faculty review committee and continue to serve as liaison to the Yakima-based El Proyecto Bienestar – a community-engaged research partnership.
School of Public Health and UW: I respond to media inquiries in topics in my area of expertise.
Chair, DSMB for the landmark HAPIN Trial (Gates/NIH)
Member, NIH Review Panel - Health Promotion for Communities
Member, CASAC ozone panel